Embodiments of the disclosure generally relate to the field of communication networks and, more particularly, to a slotted message access protocol for powerline communication (PLC) networks.
Electric power is transmitted over transmission lines at a high voltage, and is distributed to buildings and other structures at much lower voltages using electric power lines. Besides providing electric power, the electric power lines can also be used to implement powerline communications within buildings and other structures. Powerline communications can provide another communication medium for connecting various network nodes together in local and wide area networks. Powerline communications can allow electronic devices to connect to each other and to the Internet using existing alternating current (AC), direct current (DC), and unpowered wiring for communication. For example, HomePlug® devices can be used for wired communication using IEEE 1901 and HomePlug AV/AV2/GreenPHY standards for broadband over powerline communication.
Various types of vehicles, such as automobiles, typically include a collection of electric cables and/or wires that provide communication signals or electrical power between components of the vehicle. The collection of electrical cables and/or wires in the vehicle may also include wires to implement low-rate data buses, such as a local interconnect network (LIN) bus and a controller area network (CAN) bus for intra-vehicular communications. However, it is typically not desirable to use LIN and CAN buses in intra-vehicular communication networks because of the additional wires and complex wiring harnesses that are introduced into the vehicles to implement data communications. Configuring vehicular communication systems to implement PLC protocols may reduce the complexity and cost of the intra-vehicular communication networks because PLC networks typically use the power lines of the system both for providing power and for data communications. PLC networks usually do not need additional wires and/or complex wiring harnesses for data communications. However, it is typically not desirable to implement PLC protocols within the vehicles because the vehicular communication systems have specifications that are usually not supported by PLC protocols. For example, PLC protocols typically specify a frame format for PLC packets that includes a predefined length for the payload field. PLC protocols typically do not support transmitting PLC packets having a payload field that is less than the predefine length. Also, vehicular communication systems typically have stringent latency and reliability requirements.